Snowed In
by misspatchesmom
Summary: The McGees and Gibbs are snowed in at the DiNozzo house during a blizzard.


Snowed In

 _The family is snowed in at the DiNozzo house during a blizzard. Late March 2032_

The weekly family dinner was at the DiNozzo house on the Saturday of the "blizzard of '32." The storm was predicted to hit the DC area early on Sunday morning, so the family had decided to have their dinner as planned. During the day on Saturday, Charles and Jimmy Palmer had started feeling sick to their stomachs and by dinner time were running fevers and feeling miserable. Breena had called Ziva about 1600 to let her know that the Palmer family would not be coming to dinner.

Gibbs and the McGees arrived around 1645 in one vehicle. Tim had stopped by Gibbs' house on the way to the DiNozzo house. Gibbs carried in the pies that he had made for dessert, and Tim, Katie and John carried in the beverages, rolls and ice cream that the McGees contributed to the meal. Ziva had made a beef stew, one her family's favorite winter meals.

Although the skies were cloudy and the temperatures were below freezing, there was no sign of precipitation, and the winds were calm. There really was no indication of the storm to come, other than the forecasts that had been updated all day. Tony had checked his supply of fuel for the generator, in case of a power outage, and had enough fuel for at least five days. He also had two space heaters, if they were needed, that used kerosene, and several five gallon cans of the fuel. There was also a cord of wood stacked in the yard, which could be used in the fireplaces in the family room and living room.

Seventeen year old Tali arrived home from her part-time job at a music store just before dinner. "Getting cold out there, Ima. But it sure doesn't feel like it's going to snow. A lot of the stores in the mall are planning already to be closed tomorrow, so I don't have to work. Hi, Aunt Dee."

"Dinner is in about fifteen minutes." Ziva informed her daughter. "I think Anthony, Katie and Grandpa are working on a jigsaw puzzle in the playroom. Would you please let them know on your way to your room? Toda." Tali nodded at her Ima and smiled, and headed to her room to change into jeans and a more comfortable top, giving her aunt a hug as she passed.

John, LJ, Rivka and Beth were in the family room, playing a game on the Xbox. Tony and Tim were setting the table for dinner, after Tim had helped Tony put the extra leaves in the table to seat the whole group. Tali returned to the dining room, followed by Grandpa, Anthony and Katie as Ziva called out to the others in the family room that dinner was ready.

After Gibbs said a blessing, Ziva ladled the stew into each dish and passed it to the others. Delilah added a roll to each plate and the family ate mostly in silence. Tony remarked that they all must be hungry, it was so quiet.

"Abba, we all like Ima's stew, so we don't talk and just enjoy the good food." LJ was almost ready for a second helping. He and Anthony passed their empty bowls back to Ziva at the same time. As LJ's and Anthony's refilled bowls were returned to the boys, John passed his bowl for more.

"Aunt Ziva, may I have some more, please?"

Ziva smiled at John while refilling his bowl. "I guess we have some growing young men at the table tonight!" As she passed the bowl back to John, the lights flickered.

Beth had gone to the kitchen to refill her glass of milk and happened to look out the kitchen window. "Wow, the wind is really blowing out there. The tree branches are moving like crazy!"

Gibbs could see the outside from his seat and he also noticed the strong wind gusts. "Probably a good thing all the power lines are underground here."

As Gibbs spoke, another gust of wind rattled the vents in the kitchen and then the family heard a loud cracking sound and then a crash. "That was out front," Tony jumped from his seat to look out the living room windows. Tim and Gibbs followed him. A large pine tree from the yard next door had come down across the DiNozzo driveway. Thankfully, it had missed all of the vehicles.

"I hope you are all ready to stay here tonight, it's too dark and too windy to try to clear the driveway tonight." Tony commented. "It's a good thing I checked my supply of fuel for the generator and the kerosene heaters."

"Ima, Katie and I can sleep in Beth and Rivka's room since they have double bunk beds. Aunt Dee and Uncle Tim can have my room." Tali suggested.

Ziva nodded her agreement, "John can stay in Anthony's room, and Abba, you can either have the bottom bunk in LJ's room or the sofa in the family room."

The family finished dinner and Beth and Anthony cleared the table and put the dishes in the dishwasher. Anthony looked out the kitchen window while the two were loading the dishwasher. "It's starting to snow," he remarked to his sister. "Snowed in at the DiNozzos'?"

"It's looking very likely, Anthony." Tim had come into the kitchen to get a refill for Delilah's soft drink. "I just pulled up the Weather Channel app and the radar shows a massive snow storm about to move over us. They're predicting eighteen to twenty four inches of snow by the time it moves out."

"I hope we have enough coffee to keep Grandpa happy," Anthony joked. "We all might be in this one house for several days."

Tali walked through from the laundry room with an armful of clean sheets for the two beds in her room. "Better make sure John has clean sheets in your room, brother of mine. Ima is in the laundry room handing out sheets, and she wants any that need to be washed now, so she can get them washed in case power goes out."

Anthony headed to his room to check the sheets on the bottom bunk. He took the towels from his room that needed to be washed and went to the laundry room. "Don't need sheets for my room, Ima, but here are some towels that need to be washed."

Tali made up the beds in her room and then pushed the trundle bed against the other so Aunt Dee and Uncle Tim had their place to sleep. She grabbed her laptop and school bag and headed to her Abba's office to work on her paper for her Developmental Psychology class at the college.

Katie and Anthony went back to the playroom to work on the jigsaw puzzle some more, and the other kids went back to the Xbox game in the family room. The five adults moved to the living room. Ziva tuned the TV to the Weather Channel to see the extent of the storm that was headed at the DC area. The radar imagery showed the worst of the storm headed in their direction. It was a massive storm, pulling in both Gulf and Atlantic moisture and cold air from a Canadian clipper. The forecast for the DC area had heavy snowfall for each of the next three days.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere for a few days," Gibbs commented. "Probably a good thing we're stuck at the DiNozzo house." Ziva smiled at Gibbs' comment; she had mentally counted at least seventeen places for a person to sleep in the house. Each of her five children had an extra bed in their rooms; all but Tali had bunk beds. The family room sofa was also a queen sized bed and the living room sofa was a full sized sofa bed. Tony's recliner could also be used as a bed in a pinch.

A gust of wind was heard outside, and Tony and Tim looked out. "There's about two or three inches of snow already; and it's blowing around like crazy out there." Tony was glad he had the alternate ways to generate power and heat for the house.

"Who wants some hot chocolate?" Ziva asked the adults first. Gibbs, of course, asked for his regular coffee, but the other three were ready for the warm drink. Delilah offered to help Ziva and she checked with the kids in the family room.

Ziva and Delilah headed to the kitchen to make hot chocolate for everyone except Gibbs. Ziva poured his coffee into his mug and Beth took it to the living room for her Grandpa. Tali came out from working on her paper, and made popcorn for everyone. Ziva and Delilah placed the mugs of hot chocolate on the dining room table and called to the others. Tali put four large bowls of popcorn on the table.

The family assembled around the table for the snack. Since it was nearly 2200, Ziva reminded her younger three that it was almost bedtime. "But, Ima…"

"No complaints," she gave her best 'Ima glare' in the direction of the complaining twins. "Just a reminder DiNozzos that we have five more people in the house and we are still sharing three full baths and two half baths. No long showers." She glanced at Anthony as she said that and he slipped down into his chair.

"Come with me, John," Anthony gestured to his cousin. "Let's see if we can get you something to sleep in. Then I'm going to bed."

Tali and Katie moved off to find Katie some sleep clothing and Rivka, Beth and LJ went to their rooms to get their nighttime routines completed.

Gibbs got up and rinsed his coffee mug, then put it in the dish drainer. "Gonna rack with LJ. Night all."

Tim stood up, "Tony do you have a pair of boots I can borrow? Dee and I have go bags in the back of the van; I want to go out and get them." Tony led Tim to the garage and showed him the waterproof boots he had. Tim slipped a pair on his feet as Tony opened the garage door. Snow was blowing in every direction, and there were at least four inches on each vehicle. Tim opened the rear hatch of the van and grabbed the two bags, running back inside as quickly as he could.

"Damn, it's cold out there and that wind is bone-numbing!" Tim was glad to be back inside. He pulled off the boots as Tony shut the garage door.

Anthony came back into the dining room as Tim and Tony came in from the garage. "Aunt Dee, Uncle Tim, John and I are done in the bathroom. It's all yours. There should be some new toothbrushes in the bottom drawer if you need them. Good night Ima and Abba."

"Laila tov."

"Night."

The four adults stayed up about another twenty minutes, checking the weather forecast one last time. The couples bid each other good night, and headed to bed. Tony and Ziva completed their nightly routines and snuggled into their bed.

"I am thinking it is a good thing we did our monthly big order grocery shopping earlier today," Ziva commented. "We have a full pantry, refrigerator, and freezer with twelve people in the house. I have a feeling we will all be here for several days."

"Well, on the positive side, we have five more bodies generating heat if the power does go out!" Tony joked, "But you're all the heat I need." He turned towards Ziva and kissed her, pulling her to him.

~Snow~

Gibbs was the first one awake on Sunday morning at 0600. He tried to move about quietly so as not to wake anyone. He started the coffee maker in the kitchen and looked outside. The snow was still falling in large heavy flakes. The wind seemed to have died down to more of a breeze. There looked to be about eight inches of snow on the ground. He poured himself a mug of coffee and moved to the living room. He looked out to see the tree completely blocking the driveway. It was a good sized tree, probably fifteen to eighteen inches in diameter. It would take some work to clear the driveway, but not while the snow was still falling as quickly as it was currently.

"Morning, Grandpa," LJ had a glass of orange juice and a granola bar in his hands. "Wow, that's the big tree from next door." LJ had seen the tree across the driveway.

"Not going anywhere any time soon. Not safe to cut it up in the storm."

LJ grabbed his sketch book and pencils from the play room and curled up in the armchair by the window. He sketched the trees, the snow, the fallen tree and the neighborhood. By the time the others started waking up; LJ had sketched at least five pictures. Gibbs had sketched a picture of LJ in the chair with his sketch book and pencils.

Anthony and John were the next ones to come out to the kitchen. "We got cereal, bread, bagels, granola bars, and three kinds of juice," Anthony showed John where the breakfast foods were in the pantry. "Plates and bowls in this closet; glasses in the one next to the fridge, and forks, knives and spoons in the drawer over here." Anthony got himself a bowl and a glass. He put his favorite cereal in the bowl and took the milk and apple juice out of the fridge. John decided to have the same cereal as his cousin. The two boys took their food to the dining room table and ate in silence.

The four girls came out of the room next, and Tali showed Katie what was available for breakfast. Each of the girls got herself breakfast and sat down with John and Anthony. Katie sat next to Anthony and smiled at him. He grinned back at her. Gibbs passed through the dining room to the kitchen for more coffee. He poured a mugful and started another pot.

"Mmm, that coffee smells good," Delilah wheeled into the kitchen. Gibbs put a mug on the counter and poured some for her. "Thank you, Gibbs." Delilah made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and wheeled into the dining room, where the kids were finishing their food.

"Good morning, Aunt Dee." Tali greeted her aunt. "Let me know if you need help with anything in the kitchen, please. One of us will be glad to help."

"Anybody check on how much snow yet?" Delilah asked.

"About eight inches, best I can tell." Gibbs replied. "Still coming down in big flakes and heavy."

As Gibbs was replying to Delilah, Tony and Ziva came into the dining room. Tony turned and made eye contact with Ziva, whispering so only she could hear, "Eight inches…" Ziva smirked at him and whispered back, "When?"

Tali noticed her parents' looks at each other and grimaced to herself. They were always so embarrassing the way they openly flirted and touched each other suggestively. Some days she wished she could shrink into the furniture and hide from having to see them. "Good morning, Ima and Abba," Tali stood up to take her plate and others to the kitchen.

Anthony, John, Katie, Beth and Rivka moved into the family room to play games on the Xbox. Tali rinsed dishes and loaded the dishwasher as Tony, Ziva and Tim got their breakfasts. LJ had gone back to the chair by the window and was sketching again. The adults sat together in the dining room and chatted. Ziva and Delilah planned meals for the next two to three days.

Tali finished loading the dishwasher and went to Ziva's office to work on her school papers. She figured it was best to get the work done while they still had power. Tony, Tim and Gibbs turned on the living room TV for the weather forecast, as Ziva and Delilah finished the meal planning. Ziva took two more loaves of bread from the freezer for sandwiches and also took a container of soup out to thaw.

The weather forecast looked even snowier than the previous night. The system had stalled off the East coast, and the DC area was now predicted to get between twenty eight and thirty two inches of snow by the time it moved on. The radar showed a massive area of snow all around them. Tony went to the family room and told all of the kids to get any clothes to be washed to the laundry room within the next half hour.

When he looked outside on the way to the laundry room with an armful of clothing, he was glad in a way that both dogs had crossed the Rainbow Bridge. Getting Asher to go out in snow had been a major undertaking; the dog did not like cold weather and getting his paws wet was something he detested. He was worse than the cats about wet feet. Daisy on the other hand loved the snow and they often had to drag her inside. She would run through the snow in the back yard making trails and barking in joy. The two cats they had left were both in his office, piled on one of the pet beds. Callie came over and rubbed on Tony, her person, and he scratched behind her ears as she purred. Lightning stretched lazily and turned and lay back down.

Ziva came to the laundry room with more clothes gathered from the family members. She helped Tony sort the clothes and get a load of laundry started. After getting the washer going, Tony pulled Ziva to him and kissed her. "I wish we could just go to our room…"

"Mmm, I like that idea, but we have a houseful, Tony!" Ziva smiled as she kissed him, "We still have our morning time, though!" Her eyes promised him more to come, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"Oh, sorry," Tim was in the doorway to the laundry room with a few more pieces of clothing. He always seemed to have the worst timing for personal moments between his brother and sister. He blushed and placed the items in the piles to be washed and started to leave.

"No need to apologize, Tim," Ziva and Tony both grinned at him. "Besides, you should be used to it by now!"

~Snow~

After a lunch of soup and sandwiches, the family spent the afternoon watching TV, watching movies, playing Xbox games, reading, or working on a one thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. LJ sketched some more pictures as did Gibbs, and both played the virtual bowling game with everyone. The family had broken into six teams: Tony and Ziva, Tim and Delilah, Tali and Beth, Anthony and Katie, John and Rivka, and Gibbs and LJ.

When Katie and Anthony won the first game, he pulled her to him and kissed her; she wrapped her arms around his neck and returned the kiss. Both Tim and Tony cleared their throats, causing the pair to break apart quickly. Both looked embarrassed, but Gibbs broke the silence by commenting to LJ that the two of them would win the next game. Ziva kept an eye on Anthony and Katie as did Tony, Tim and Delilah. Tony wrapped his arms around Ziva while they were waiting for their turn to bowl and whispered in her ear, "Time for another father son talk, I guess."

"He takes after you, you know; he cannot keep his hands off his girl." Ziva turned and smirked at Tony. "And I am not complaining, I like having your hands on me."

After two more games of bowling, the second one won by Gibbs and LJ and the third by Tony and Ziva, the group scattered to other activities. Delilah and Ziva went to the kitchen to make dinner for the family, and Tony and Tim went to check the weather forecast again. Outside the snow was still falling and there was about sixteen to eighteen inches on everything. The forecast had not changed much from earlier.

Ziva and Delilah called the family to the dining room for dinner. They had made spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and a salad. While they were eating the meal, Tony suggested that they watch a movie together afterwards. He asked for suggestions what to watch.

"Tron," John spoke up first.

"Casablanca," Delilah added her vote.

LJ thought a few minutes and added his choice, "Jaws."

"The Sting," Gibbs added and several of the others nodded.

"It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World," Ziva threw her choice into the list.

"YES!" Delilah, Tali, Tim, Anthony, Katie, Beth and LJ all agreed with Ziva's choice.

With the movie decided, the family finished dinner and cleaned up the table and kitchen before settling into the family room to watch it. Tali and Delilah made popcorn for everyone to share, and LJ put out several choices of soft drinks. Anthony got chips and pretzels out of the pantry. Gibbs happened to look out the front windows while the family was preparing to watch the movie. The snow was still coming down and there looked to be at least two feet of it on the ground so far. He hoped the power stayed on, but knew Tony had a generator, two kerosene heaters and plenty of firewood.

After the movie, the kids started getting ready for bed and the adults checked the weather forecast. The winds had picked up again as they watched the movie, and snow was blowing making visibility near zero. After the kids had all settled in bed for the night, the adults also headed to sleep.

Tony and Ziva woke at their usual 0445, time for just them in the early morning. Kisses and touches became a fire between them, and Tony whispered in Ziva's ear that she would get her eight inches that he promised. Both were at release when a loud explosion rocked the house. "Oh, Zi… oh, shit!" They were both still breathing heavily when the power went out.

"Great timing…" Tony was not looking forward to getting the generator going in the dark and cold. He was sure the noise from outside had awakened others, so he and Ziva both put on sweats and their robes and headed out to the living room to see what had exploded.

Gibbs was already at the window and Tim came in the room behind Tony and Ziva. "Looks like a transformer down the street shorted out." Gibbs pointed to the blue arcs across from the neighbor's house. "Let's get that generator going." He and Tony moved with flashlights out of the room and to the garage, followed by Tim who volunteered to help with the kerosene heaters.

Ziva moved to the kitchen and took out more flashlights and candles. Since the stove was gas, she took out the grill lighter and started a kettle of water boiling for coffee and tea. She heard the hum of the refrigerator as the generator kicked in, and then the two small lights in the kitchen that were powered by the generator came on. There were two more lights in the hallway with the children's bedrooms and one in the master bedroom that came on as well.

Gibbs, Tony and Tim came in with the kerosene heaters, placing one in the family room and one in the entry hall. Soon, both heaters were maintaining a comfortable temperature in the surrounding areas.

LJ and Anthony came out of their rooms, and yawned. John followed shortly after Anthony. Ziva reminded them to use the refrigerator sparingly, but that they could take food from the fridge for breakfast. All three poured bowls of cereal and then got milk and juice. Ziva handed Gibbs, Tony, and Tim mugs of instant coffee, and sipped her tea.

By the time daylight was starting to break the darkness, everyone was awake and had eaten breakfast. "We should have plenty of hot water for showers as the hot water heater is gas powered, and we have a gas stove, so we can heat food. The fridge, freezer and a few lights are powered by the generator." Tony explained to the McGees and Gibbs, and reminded his own family. "I suggest wearing layers of clothing, and using blankets to keep warm if you are not in one of the areas with the kerosene heaters."

"Delilah, I have some extra sweats that you can use, and Tim and Abba, Tony will have something that should fit you. John, I see Anthony already has given you some warmer clothes and Katie, Tali has some extras that should fit you." Ziva motioned for Delilah to follow her to get the warm clothes from the master bedroom. Ziva forgot that she and Tony had left the sheets in a tangle, and decided not to draw attention to the bed by fixing the sheets. She pulled some sweat pants and a sweat shirt out of her dresser and handed them to her sister.

"These should fit."

Delilah smiled and ignored the messy bed. She knew about Tony and Ziva's morning time just for them. "Thanks, Zi."

~Snow~

By lunch time the snowstorm was near blizzard conditions and when Tim pulled up the weather channel on his phone app, they were predicting another ten to twelve inches on top of the twenty five inches already on the ground.

Tali and Delilah heated soup for everyone to have for lunch and they also had sandwiches with the soup. When everyone had finished the meal, Beth, Katie and Rivka cleared the table, and washed and dried the dishes. Tony reminded all of them to check cell phone charges, and to use the two outlets in the kitchen if they needed to charge a phone or tablet.

LJ sketched in his sketchbook and read some. Anthony, Katie and Gibbs worked on the jigsaw puzzle in the playroom. Tony and Tim played games or watched movies on their tablets, and Delilah, Ziva and Tali played Scrabble at the dining room table, while Beth, Rivka and John read in the family room. The cats stayed in Tony's office piled on the pet bed.

As dinner time neared, Tony and Tim offered to cook dinner and LJ, Anthony and John said that they would clean up after dinner. Tony had taken some chicken out of the freezer in the morning to use to make chicken Alfredo for dinner. He cut the chicken and sautéed it with garlic, onion, and seasonings as Tim made linguine to put the meat and sauce over. Gibbs made cowboy cornbread in a cast iron cook pot on top of one of the kerosene heaters. The kids all remembered having the same dish made over the fire pit at the cabin.

After dinner, the family gathered in the family room to tell stories. Gibbs told some of the best stories from his boyhood and all of the others listened spellbound to his tales from Stillwater. He told about the tree house he and his buddies had built one summer; the four boys would hide in the tree house and dump water on unsuspecting kids who dared to walk under the tree house. He told about the kids all playing hide and seek in the dark in the summer time, not having to worry about being outside after dark and being safe.

After about two hours of stories, Gibbs suggested that they take a break. LJ and Anthony asked for dessert and when Ziva asked what they wanted to eat, LJ replied, "Ice cream!" She laughed and reminded him that ice cream is cold, but he insisted. The others joined in with LJ and the family had "make your own" ice cream sundaes for dessert. Tony and Ziva were the last two back in the family room with their ice cream and Tony laughed out loud at the family all wrapped in blankets eating ice cream!

"Can't say we aren't an interesting bunch, that's for sure!" Tim joked.

"C'mon, Probie, interesting is all you can say?" Tony teased his brother.

"I was being nice, Tony. What do you want me to say, that we're weird?"

"I'll admit it!" Tony laughed out loud again and was joined by the others.

"To weirdness," Tali raised her cup of ice cream to her family. "That's what makes us a fun family.'

"To family," everyone raised their cups.

After another hour of stories, the family headed to bed. Ziva made sure everyone had extra blankets to keep warm. As they slept, the snow slowly stopped falling, with only few small flakes falling by the time Ziva and Tony woke up about 0445. They were spooned together in the center of the bed, a common way for them to wake up together.

"I know how to get warmed up," Tony kissed Ziva's neck and pulled her closer.

"Mmmm," Ziva purred in his arms. "Does it involve fewer clothes as well?"

"You read my mind…" Tony loosened his hold on his wife as she rolled to face him. He planted his lips on hers and she locked hers to his.

"Just remember, we have to be quiet as there are no sounds of the systems in the house to cover any sounds we make." Tony grinned at his ninja and moved his hands over her body. As they neared climax, Ziva locked into a long, passionate kiss with Tony so that they stifled their sounds of release into the kiss. Side by side, they lay coming down when both heard a sound from outside their room. Each one grabbed sweat pants and a robe and hurried to see who or what had made the noises.

Tony opened the door to the two cats looking up at him expectantly. He grinned at Ziva, "Voyeur cats?"

"Silly man," Ziva brushed her lips on his. "Since we are up, let us feed them and then I will heat water for coffee and tea." The pair walked out to the kitchen and noticed someone on the family room sofa. Ziva went over to see who was there, and silently motioned Tony over.

John and Rivka were wrapped in a single blanket, spooned together, sound asleep. Tony motioned to Ziva to follow him, and he tiptoed to Anthony's room. He looked in the door. "Just what I thought," he whispered as Ziva looked at Anthony and Katie wrapped together under two blankets on the bottom bunk.

"They better have clothing on," Ziva replied. Gibbs came out of LJ's room and looked at Tony and Ziva. Ziva motioned for him to come to look into Anthony's room. Then Tony motioned for Gibbs to follow him to the family room.

Once the three were in the kitchen, Gibbs commented, "Looks like another talk with Grandpa is in the near future."

Tony nodded, "Abba talk time, too."

Ziva added, "Ima and Rivka talk as well."

"About what?" Delilah had come into the kitchen.

"Our children are growing up on us, Dee." Ziva motioned for Delilah to follow her to the family room.

"Oh!" Ziva motioned for her sister to follow her to Anthony's room.

"Oh, again! Katie and Mom talk and John and Dad talk on the horizon!" Delilah headed back to the kitchen where she and Ziva made themselves mugs of tea as Tony and Gibbs had coffee.

As the four were chatting at the dining room table, Tim came in for his coffee. He looked at Tony, "YOUR son, MY daughter!" Tim pointed in the direction of Anthony's room.

"We KNOW," Tony pointed towards the family room, "YOUR son, MY daughter!" Tim went into the family room, and came back.

"Now what?' he asked no one in particular.

Gibbs calmly looked at Tim, "They're good kids, Tim. We just keep reminding them that they need to respect each other and have the parent kid talks as many times as it takes to get it to sink in. I'll do the Grandpa talks with all of them too."

~Snow~

In early afternoon, the power came back on. Tony and Tim extinguished the kerosene heaters and carried them back out to the garage as Gibbs shut down the generator. Since the snow had stopped coming down, Tony and Tim bundled up and got out the snow blower and shovels and began clearing the walkways and driveway. They got to the downed tree and then used brooms to wipe snow off the tree trunk. As they were making a plan, Gibbs came out with Tony's chainsaw.

"Might as well get started cutting it up. At least enough to get the vehicles out of the driveway." Gibbs started the saw and began cutting. Tony got his axe and a wheelbarrow from the garage to help with moving the pieces of tree. Tim used a bowsaw to remove smaller branches. John and Anthony showed up outside to help.

"Ima sent us out to help, Abba." Anthony grabbed some of the smaller pieces and helped his father move the wood to the side of the garage. Tony would split the wood in the spring and add it to the wood pile in the backyard. They often used the pine for bonfires in the fire pit in the summer.

By sundown, the five had cleared the driveway of tree and snow. They put the equipment back in the garage and left boots by the door. Ziva, Delilah and Tali had made meatloaf and mashed potatoes for dinner. Katie had made a salad. As they were eating, the first of several snowplows went by the house.

"Looks like we'll be able to get out tomorrow," Gibbs commented.

After another movie that all agreed on, they all headed to bed for one last night at the DiNozzo house. In the morning, Tony and Tim loaded the snow blower and shovels in Tony's truck and they and Anthony and John headed first to Gibbs' house and then to the McGee house to clear driveways and walkways. After lunch at the DiNozzo house, the McGees headed home and Tony took Gibbs home.

While Tony was out, Ziva had the kids help her gather towels, sheets and borrowed clothing into the laundry room and started washing. When Tony got back home, he found Ziva planning dinner in the kitchen.

"You know, I love our extended family, but I am sure glad that they were able to go home today." Ziva leaned into Tony's embrace as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Mmm, me, too. More time to do this…" Tony kissed Ziva, "More later." She grinned at him.

* * *

 **A/N Inspired by the arctic cold and snowy weather in the US over the past few days. When it's 28º in the Florida panhandle ("Lower Alabama") it's too darn cold!**


End file.
